{kids looking forward to chores...yes...really - wfmw}

Have you ever heard of Handipoints? Well, it is currently the way that our family is handling chores. Here's a blurb taken directly from the handipoints.com website:

"Online chore charts that allow parents to award points that children can redeem for virtual rewards."

Here's a blurb from my brain:

"My kids love online games and playing around on the internet. This is a great way to combine that devotion with getting things done around the house that need to be done. The points they earn can be "traded in" for a non-virtual, real life prize. My kids are working toward earning webkinz. I asked them what they wanted to earn, considered the price, and set the value for each chore accordingly. It is a little bit confusing to learn at first (for me, who was setting up the charts...the kids had no problem with their part), of course I didn't read any directions, just jumped right in, so that might have been the problem.

There is an online world (kind of like webkinz) where they can have a house, play games, and interact with others. It is what is working for us right now!"

For other great ideas, visit rocks in my dryer.

WFMW: New Favorite Hair Accessory

Do you ever have one of those days when you can't stand to have your hair around your face? Yeah? Me too.

I have a stacked, a-line bob-type hair cut and its not very long...not really long enough for a ponytail. I showed you what it looks like here.

I found a product at Walmart (not my favorite store...at all) and I love it. It is called the Goody Stay Put headwrap. It looks like this...

I. Seriously. Heart. my new headbands. They grip and stay put just like their name says. Also, they don't give me a headache like other hard plastic headbands. Those little dotted lines you see are rubbery grippy thingys. Yes. That is the technical name.

Thought you'd wanna know what works for me.

To see what is working for other bloggers, check here.

Take 2 Of These And Call Me In the Morning - Organizing Medicine

Where is that perfect location to store medicine? We've been told that it is definitely not in the bathroom, due to all the heat and moisture, even though that is where the medicine cabinet lives.


I keep mine in the kitchen. It seems the most convenient spot for my family. In this house, I've kept in on the tip top shelf in the pantry, you know, the one my kids can't reach (I can't reach it either, for that matter). So I dread getting medicine out. Especially since I get lots of free and cheap medicine due to the CVS deals. What's a girl to do?


How 'bout this?

Do you have one of these roll-up makeup/toiletry bags laying around from when you used to sell Mary Kay (and then you used it to tote scrapbooking supples when you sold Close to My Heart)? Well - I did. And it didn't have a use until recently. As in yesterday. Now it hangs on my SKINNY pantry door and holds all the medicines and medicinal supplies (I sound so smart, huh?) that we need to be convenient to get to. As in band-aids and neosporin. And Benedryl and tums...you get the picture.

So go find your leftover roll-up toiletry bag and put it to use (a new use, that is).

This is my challenge to you to think outside of the box, use what you have, and make it work for you.

How's that for inspiring?

What are you currently doing to use creative/out of the box/not what it was created for storage solutions in your home?

For more of my Works for Me Wednesday ideas, look here:

Gimmie 5 (or less) - Recipes with 5 ingredients or less
Painting the Easy Way
Summer Schedule

This is my next organizing project:

The rest of the pantry (cue scary music - cover your eyes and peek through your fingers...don't say I didn't warn you!) There is seriously no rhyme or reason in there right now.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, see Rocks In My Dryer, here.

Gimmie Five (or less) - Recipes with 5 or less ingredients

Here are a couple of my stand-by recipes that need only five ingredients (or less!). I am a very, very simple cook and like recipes that have few ingredients and ones that are easy to find.

Apricot Chicken

1 package dry onion soup mix

1 cup apricot jam

1 cup french dressing

6-8 pieces skinless chicken breasts or thighs

Combine first 3 ingredients. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour sauce over top, making sure each piece has sauce on it. Cook on low 7-9 hours. Serve with rice. Makes great sauce! Yum!

Mock Caesar Salad

3 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup olive oil

7 cups torn romaine lettuce

Mix first 4 ingredients in blender (I use my magic bullet). Pour over greens and mix to cover greens. Serve immediately. YUMMY!

If you'd like some more great recipes with five ingredients or less, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Painting the Easy Way

A number of months ago (I am grossly underestimating here) I got a great deal on some french doors. They were only $15 each and fit perfectly in the doorway leading from my foyer to our home office. My husband and father-in-law hung them for me yay! Well, I am finally getting around to painting them.

I decided to share a few painting tips that I've learned over the years, either from watching decorating shows on TV, reading decorating magazines, so on and so forth. Some of them you may alreaady know, but hopefully you'll learn at least one new idea to make painting easier.

If you are a professional painter or a painting perfectionist of any kind, you may want to stop reading now. Some of these tips may feel like you're taking too many shortcuts. Just warnin' you, I'm just sayin'!

1. Line your metal paint tray. Sure you could buy the fancy-schmancy liners from the store, but why should you when you have a gazillion plastic shopping bags sitting around. Just slip the tray into the bag & wha-la a free liner (remember, free is my favorite price). Just toss the bag when your done.

2. While we're on the subject of your plastic shopping bag collection, why don't you get a few out to cover the rollers once you're done painting today, since you'll be going at it again tomorrow? That way you won't have to wash them twice. I know...genius!

3. And to add to your list of free or almost free painting supplies, do you have any rubberbands? Once you are done painting and have washed your brush, wrap a rubberband around the bristles to keep them nice and neat while they dry? Looks good! No nasty brushes for the next project.

4. Since we are getting this job done the easy way, let's not tape of the ceiling or window/door frames. What? I'm getting a little too crazy for you now? Just use one of those cool gadgets with a wheel and a pad for cutting in. But don't. get. paint. on that little wheel thing. Seriously, have you seen my ceilings? Good. Don't look at them. A painting perfectionist I am not.

5. You're not planning on removing the door knobs or taping off the window panes, are you? I didn't think so. I knew you were planning to wrap the door knob in aluminum foil and rub petroleum jelly on the door hinges and the edges of the window panes. That way you can just rub it off when you're done and no paint will stick.

6. And before you close up that paint can for good, put a little in a small glass jar, airtight plastic container, or an ice cube tray. That way if your child crashes into the wall while rollerblading in the house and chips the lovely paint job, you can whip out a q-tip and touch it up. If you choose to freeze a bit in an ice cube tray, you can touch up the chipped spot with your little frozen paint popsicle. That's right, use it just like a marker. Easy peasy.

Here are some pictures that show how the color you choose for your walls can really effect the feel of the room.

(Photos from Southernliving.com, last is from Ratemyspace.hgtv.com)

I believe what The Nester preaches, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." So no comments telling me about the proper prep techniques and such, please. It won't get done around here if it has to be done that way. Now stop procrastinating that painting project like me and get it done already. That's what I'm doing tomorrow. I'll send pictures.

So did you learn anything new here today? Please share your favorite painting tips!

If you'd like to read more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday.

Summer Schedule - Works for Me Wednesday (WFMW)

So, summer is here, and the kids must be entertained. Therefore, I have created a schedule in Powerpoint for us to loosely follow throughout the week. I am definitely flexible, but having this schedule will help us find our way if we find ourselves floundering. And that way I won't wonder where the day has gone at 5:30 when my husband comes home! :)

Monday and Tuesday are AT HOME DAYS. This is what they should look like:

Wednesday is Water Day. We will be getting wet somewhere on Wednesdays. We don't have direct access to a pool, but there are several places we can rotate for swimming. This is what it should look like:

Thursday is Movie Day where we go to the free movies at the Regal movie theater. This is what Thursday should look like:

Sometimes Friday will be an at home day and sometimes it will be a letterboxing day. I haven't done a schedule for Friday yet...not quite sure about what I want it to look like.

This schedule thing is brand new to me, so I'm hoping that it will work for me and my kiddos, but I can't promise that I'll be sticking to it everyday. It will give us a bit of a guideline, though. I'll let you know how it is going periodically.

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.